Dirty tank.

[missyxx]

Hi guys im new to this.
I own 3 axies in a 50L tank.
I have had the tank for one day and its already cloudy.

I have a filter and all the gravel/ tank was cleaned throughly before putting the axies in.

What should i do? Should I do a water change or do i need a better filter??
Thanks 4 reading

 

[ted22]

Hey, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but a 50ltr tank isnt even big enough for 1 axie let alone 3! you will need a 4ft long tank! that small volume of water will not be able to cope with the waste from 3 axies and you will be constantly be running into water issues! get a bigger tank! (i had 1 axie in a 60ltr and it was waayyy too small for him! he's now in a 180ltr!)

Look up how to cycle a tank, you should ideally have it cycled for a number of weeks before adding any live animal in there as your water chemistry will be all over the place!

You need to research this in a big way! Who told you it would be okay for 3 axies in a 50ltr? whoever it is needs shooting!

My advice is to return the axies to wherever they are from untill you can provide an adequate home for them

Im seriously hoping you mean 50gal instead of 50ltr!

Im guessing from your post that you have not done your research into keeping axolotls and if thats the case I hope you havnt also made other mistakes like using gravel or a heater!

Please do reasearch as your axies will surely suffer if they are in an uncycled tank that tiny!

Everyone on here is here to help so please gather as much info as you can, to help with the cloudy water we will need to know your water parameters,
Nitrate
Nitrite
Ammonia
etc.

Please find your axies a suitable home!

(if it was a typo and you meant 50gal i apologise, if not then you have to think seriously about what you are going to do with your axies as they will not be able to live in 50ltrs of water!)


Edit: sorry feel abit harsh about the lecture as i know you are new to this, just abit shocked by the small tank size!

 

[blackdog]

What he said

1 foot of tank per axie minimum, and personally for 3, i'd have a 4 footer too.

The cloudy water is often seen with a new cycling tank.

I agree you need to do some serious research and reading - pronto!

First stop - Axolotls - Housing in Captivity

Second stop - Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity

In the meantime, do a nice big water change with dechlorinated water asap

Bren

Bren

 

[Mac Myers]

Ed is right. Thee is no way that you can keep the tank clean with 3 animals in there. You could keep one juvenile for a while.
You are in trouble and as Ed pointed out.. you need to get the animals a larger tank today, house them somewhere else until you can get a larger set up, or return them. :happy:

 

[dragonlady]

Hi Missy,

I have to agree with everyone here regarding tank size. How big are your axies now? As Mac stated, one small juvenile could be kept here temporarily until you could get a bigger tank. The cloudiness you are experiencing is most likely from ammonia. Axolotls are very good at two main things - keeping us captivated and producing a lot of waste! It is imperative that you get them out of that environment immediately because they can succumb to ammonia pretty quickly.

Something else that caught my attention was that you said you were using gravel. If the gravel is larger than 1mm, that really won't be acceptable either - axolotls are little vacuums and despite our best efforts, they do manage to inhale substrate (gravel or whatever else you have on the floor that is not larger than their heads).

Please ask any questions you have and check out the links given. I wish you and the axies the best. Take care.

 

[missyxx]

Hi sorry guys i confirmed it is 50 gal hahaha.. stupid me.

Is 50 gal tank ok? Its a fairly big tank it costed 500 dollars (tank alone) .
I have come home from work and the cloudiness has diappeared, i am very confused now. I think as Bren said "The cloudy water is often seen with a new cycling tank"
was correct but i am unsure.

The pet shop owner said I can keep a maxium of 4. I hope he was correct when he said this because I love my pets dearly and do not want them to suffer. I would rather take them back than see them get sick or die.

Thank you so much guys... I hope it doesnt return to cloudiness for a while...
I am going to keep an eye on it for the next few days

 

[dragonlady]

Whew! That's much, much better! You can't scare us like that! Mac's an old man and his heart may not be able to take too many shocks like that! lol jk - we all love to pick on Mac...or maybe it's just me!

In this case, it definitely sounds like you have a cycling tank and hope you have picked up the drop style chemical test kits for pH, Ammonia, Nitrite/Nitrate - these are absolute necessities to get through the cycling process and for maintenance afterwards. Have a look out here about CYCLING.

Depending on the actual dimensions, 4 should be fine in a 50. A note about adding more friends, please quarantine new potential tankmates for at lease 30 days. This is for the safety of your current pets as the new one could have or carrying a disease.

 

[ted22]

50gal, very good! you got us all worried haha! As dragonlady said read up on cycling and get a test kit once you understand the cycling process you will be able to diagnose water problems (cloudiness being a bacterial bloom etc) have a read of the link dragonlady posted and test the water making the appropriate water changes (during the cycling it will depend on your test readings how much water you change just dont change anymore than 50% of the water at any one time during the cycling process and you will need about 10-25% weekly water change when the cycle has finished) during this process you should monitor the water parameters regualary as they will be fluctuating and spiking all over the place creating quite a hostile environment for your little fellas (its reccommended to cycle a tank before adding any axies as things can quickly get out of control if not monitored), if all goes well the cycle can be completed between 2 and 6 weeks thats when you will only have to do weekly changes although you will still have to monitor water conditions closely to make sure its perfect for the little guys!

Cycling a tank is such a chore (daily water changes and all) but its worth it in the end! Adding a pice of used filter media from an established tank can speed up the process considerably!

If you havent got em already here are a few essentials!
Thermometer
Master test kit
Turkey baster
and if you are in hot climate with no aircon a fan or two and an airstone is a must to keep the temp down!

Have fun with your new slimey friends!